The story of a boy, a girl, and a dog who move across the world to follow a dream. (Oh the drama, can you stand it?)

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Check!

There was a while when I didn't know whether I'd be able to work in the UK. I came up with a few schemes that involved me moving elsewhere or doing other things while Chad pursued his MSc, but mainly what I did was make lists. Because that's what I do. So I had a list of things that I thought might keep me busy in the UK. Unbeknownst to me, I have actually already started pursuing many of the things on my list. Perhaps it was my subconscious propelling me toward these activities, needing to put imaginary check marks next to the items on the imaginary list.
*Start training for a race: Check! In some manifestations of the list, this was a marathon, but really. Come on now. A half marathon is long enough. My last training day was on Sunday, and I had one of those perfect running days where I could have gone on forever - I ran 5.5 miles and stopped because I got bored. I'm petrified to go out again because I'm pretty sure it's going to be a big ol' mess and I won't be able to get around the loop even once. I'm also feeling pretty chuffed (ooh, fun new British word!) about having gone that far. Yay!
*Start knitting again: Check! I've been an avid knitter in my time, but have sort of fallen out of the habit while living on the island these past three years. I bought some beautiful Vinalhaven wool before I left and was gifted with a super beautiful mitt pattern by Angie, our local knitting store owner, and have begun my mitts. I'm also looking into finding a knitting group that will suit my schedule as I've run into a bit of a snag with the pattern.
*Get involved with the community: Check! After joining the gym, I applied to volunteer at a variety of places, and have heard back from three of them thus far. I've noticed that people are much more lax about communicating around here, often taking FOREVER to reply to e-mails, but I'm looking forward to getting involved!
*Learn Italian: Not-so-check. This is one of the goals on the list that I haven't quite checked off yet. I've always loved languages, having been a French major for about five minutes in college. Italian has always held a special draw for me. Up till now, I haven't exactly had an opportunity to look into learning a new language, but now I have an excuse - we're going to ROME! Chad and I randomly started talking the other night about taking off for a while before his new semester begins on 9th February. However, I discovered that I can't take any of my holiday time until my probationary period at work is up on 5th Feb. So we decided to throw caution to the wind and schedule our trip for 20-24 of February. We found a super cheap flight, a super cheap B&B that was having a stay-4-nights-for-the-price-of-3 sale (our room ended up being cheaper than all the hostels I looked at!), and booked! Chad will be back in classes by then, but he's promised to do his readings before we leave so we can enjoy ourselves. I've been enjoying looking up fun places to see, and, of course, things to eat, and have even found Chad some catacombs and a cemetery to check out (am I a good wife or what?). Yay for Rome!

Speaking of yay, I also found out that on Thursday, I'll be spending the night in London for my training at Sweaty Betty. As I've mentioned before, the 5th of November is Bonfire Night, and there are 25 different fireworks displays going on in the city that night! I'm beyond excited and can't wait to check out the city and join in the festivities! Chad's programme has a field trip to London scheduled for a Saturday in either January or February as well, so he'll get to check it out separately.

I've got my new business cards and am picking up my Thai massage mat on Thursday in London, so hopefully I'll be able to start my home visit Thai massage business pretty soon! That's the next thing I'd like to check off my list :)